Well, as I was rotating my tires yesterday I found that the rear passenger side axle seal had gone again. I called my mechanic up and he says it's time to replace the axle shaft. He called me this morning quoting me damn near $500 dollars including labor. I'm thinking for a truck that cost $4200+over $5,000 to get it road worthy again is not getting any better. I'm thinking about the full size or diesel mod. I'm getting fed up with this never ending list of stuff to do on this truck. I'm already in almost or over $9k with a truck not even worth $6k (stated by a county letter...).

Any suggestions?

 

If you like the truck just look for a newer rear end at the junkyard. It should be a fair bit less money than that and then you can just bolt it in at home!

 

What did you spend 5k on to make it driveable?

 

Fullscale: I wish it was that easy. All the JYs around here have been picked clean of anything ranger or expo.

Rolsmojave3: I bought the truck when I sold my last car for 7500, I spent the original 4200 on the truck. that left a little over 3k left, blew thru that in one month to get it up to spec, but still had to do the hidden things. That took another 1500 or so.

I had to do the windshield, clutch, tires, brakes, exhaust, etc...

 

He wants to replace the whoe axle shaft? That doesnt seem right to me. I mean im jus starting out mechanic and he probably knows more but i would think thts just the axle seals.

My rear end went to pieces. Replaced the whole assembly with one from a 2008 eith 15k on it for 870. And that was at my mechanic(before i knew how to do things and it was last minute and i need a car for school. Didnt have time to look and shop and research)

 

From what I understand-the axle bearing ate into the axle shaft due to not enough grease on the bearing, or it just wore out. After the grease had been gone through, the bearing just started eating into the axle shaft, if I decided to get it fixed, I will post pics. He says it's the worst he's ever encountered...Besides, he already replaced the seals once.

 

Ohh i see. So it jus all leaked out before you even noticed it. My apologies. Id look into a stronger rear end anyways. I mean might as well for that money. Maybe he can do wht my mechanic did and lookfor one for u. Just tell him what u want and what fits.

 

So he replaced the seals the first time, then didn't refill the axle with gear lube to replace any fluid that was lost due to leaking out the seals. Now a short time later after he didn't add any lube, your bearing is toast?

 

You can get an axle repair bearing as well. Might be something to look into, but I don't know if it's really meant to be a permanent fix.

 

He put an axle saving bearing in there, new seals, and fresh gear oil the first time. So now it's time to replace the shaft. I'm going to replace both at the same time, amazon is my friend!

 

Check out best auto care in springfield, ive used them before and they're fair on labor/ material costs.

 

Here's their address... 6250 Brandon Avenue
Springfield, VA 22150

 

Ehh, I'm not trying to switch shops. I trust my mechanic. He's worked on 5 out of 7 vehicles in my family....so I kinda trust him. He's not going to screw me. I just spoke with him earlier today, and if I buy the parts- (about $200 in parts) he will just give me the standard hourly labor rate-($70x2hours) so I'll drive out of there spending less then $350.

 

That's cool man I understand just trying to offer suggestions. I listed my truck on craigslist, im thinking about getting into a jeep wrangler.

 

I getcha! But seriously? A wrangler??? I think there cool and all, but other than the offroading aspect, there not so functional as a truck. the storage space is minimal to say the least. I test drove a '90 wrangler before I bought this pos i have, and the gears were so tall, I was going 30mph in 2nd gear....personally, I would get one as a weekend vehicle or something like that. as a DD, not for me...just my $.02.

 

2002 Ford Ranger FX4 4x4 65k miles 10000 obo

that yours?

 

yup thats it

 

Replacing an axle shaft is easy as hell. All it requires is removing the diff cover, removing the center pin and c-clip and pulling the axle out ( a half our job ) Then remove the bearing and install new bearing/seal ( 1.5 hr job) So there's a TOTAL of 2.5 hours from start to finish. At a maximum of $80/hr, that's $200 for labor. You can find new shafts online for around $100 shipped. So there's a total of $300. He is raping you for labor.

http://www.am-autoparts.com/Ford/Ran...FYhM4AodSlEAqg

This kit comes WITH a new bearing/seal.

 

Brinker-

I bought the same parts (I ordered the drivers side as well) at amazon, saved on shipping. He's only charging me 1.5 hours labor. So about $330 out the door AND supporting local business and a friend? Not a biggie.

 

I'm just saying, you could do it yourself in the driveway. It's very easy.

 

Just got it fixed!

Pics of the axle in question: